


that's wound by a key

by TrekFaerie



Category: LazyTown
Genre: F/M, Robot/Human Relationships, Young Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2016-12-28
Packaged: 2018-09-12 20:26:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9089467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrekFaerie/pseuds/TrekFaerie
Summary: How can you tell / I'm under a spell / I'm waiting for love's first kiss.





	

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY PIXEL APPRECIATION DAY YA FUCKS

It had been about three weeks since the ill-advised entry into the dance contest. It had been about three weeks since he'd thrown the music box back into whatever messy closet he'd originally found it. It had been about three weeks, and the kid _hadn't let it go_.

He couldn't say that it had concerned him, to see the computer nerd child sitting by himself on the few days he was outside anymore, sitting on the park bench and moping while the others played. He couldn't say that because he was incapable of feeling concern about anyone but himself. _However_ , it did intrigue him, which was why he had been spying on the kid between cake breaks for a good hour or two. A villain needed to keep up on the local gossip, of course.

He finally hit pay dirt when the pink-haired nuisance flounced her way over to him, sitting next to him on the bench and aping his slumped position. "What's wrong, Pixel?" she asked with sickening concern, her disgusting kindness echoing in the emptiness of his lair.

"I just..." He scuffed at the dirt with his sneaker, not looking her in the eye despite how she twisted down to look at his face. "I've still been thinking about, you know..."

She huffed and rolled her eyes. "If you want to see her as bad as you say you do, all you have to do is go up to Robbie and ask for her," she said.

"Oh, really? And what do I say? 'Excuse me, Mr. Rotten, I was wondering if you'd let me take out your weird ballerina daughter to go get ice cream or something? I promise to have her back by seven.'"

"She can't be his daughter," she said, reasonably. "Robbie's not even married. He doesn't have any kids."

"We don't know his life." The kid twisted in farther on himself, looking slightly miserable. "I just... I don't think I'm cool with the idea of never seeing her again."

She took his hand in her own, patting it comfortingly, and he had to look away before he gagged.

So, the kid had a little crush on his Rottenella. Of course he did; anyone attractive enough to be mistaken as his child (god forbid) would be a catch for anybody. He clearly didn't know she wasn't a real girl, but he suspected that wouldn't be an issue for him; if anything, the nerd would fall even harder if he knew she was a machine.

It took him a long while to sort through the endless mess that was his storage room, looking for her music box, and he thought about the situation as he did so... Really, he'd be better off once he handed her over to the kid. It'd been... creepy, knowing she was there, in her box, just... existing and yet not. (The creation of life was terrifying; how had his mother even handled it...?) He would feel better about it if she weren’t there anymore. Once she was out the door, she was no longer his problem.

(Oh. Wait. Right. _That_ was how his mother had handled it.)

Best-case scenario, she broke his little computerized heart with her cruelty and made him cry, but quietly, in his home. The pain of adolescent heartbreak could keep him from joining in with the other children for weeks, at least!

(He did not know that personally. Of course.)

Worst-case scenario, he thought, as he watched her pass through the machine that brought her back to a sort of life... Worst case, they broke her. Like children do to all their toys, eventually

After leading her out of his lair and as far as the edge of town (and getting tripped three times for his trouble, the ungrateful little hellion), he gave her key one final twist and pushed her off in his direction. He watched the scene, periodically glancing over his shoulder as he walked back: how she only managed to get about half the way there before losing energy and flopping over; how he noticed her there and jumped off the bench, all moroseness forgotten; how he ran over to her, clearly panicked and worried for about a minute before he noticed the mechanism on her back and turned her back on with ease; how he spoke, quickly and constantly, as he corralled her towards the others, while she merely... stared. Which wasn't exactly the physical assault he'd been expecting, but surely her tolerance for him would wane quickly.

(He touched her hand once, trying to lead her in a new direction, and she froze despite her clockwork continuing to click on.)

And after that... Well. He _did_ get a week of the boy not playing outside with the others, but it was hardly worth the outcome. At the end of that week, he just came back out, but not alone: Rottenella, sans her winding mechanism but still moving about, perhaps with even greater mobility than before, was out there with him. She was dressed in a casual but lovely purple outfit surely picked out for her by the pink one, and though she didn't speak, there was a slight smile on her face as she danced with Pinky, or climbed a tree with the loud one, or simply... held hands with the computer nerd.

She seemed... happy?

And, well. What more could a father ask for?


End file.
